“While there have been great concern about elephants and rhinos, giraffes have gone under the radar,” says Fennessy.

A rising human population, as well as illegal hunting, habitat loss and changes through expanding agriculture and mining, increasing human-wildlife conflict, and civil unrest are all pushing the species towards extinction, says the IUCN.

Northern Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and South Sudan are areas of key concern where giraffes are seen as war fodder; however some giraffe populations, mostly in southern Africa, are growing or remaining stable.

Report a typo: highlight the text in question and press Ctrl+Enter to report.